It is hilarious to the rest of the world that India, a country of over a billion people, has so little to show in global competitive sports.
China, in comparison, having cast aside the bamboo curtain about thirty years ago, seemed to make excellence in every forum the national goal. Today she is the new economic superpower. Chinese athletes also took pole position in the medals tally at the last Olympics, ahead even of USA, whereas India received only her first individual gold medal at the same event.
The field hockey World Cup 2010 is ongoing in New Delhi’s Major Dyan Chand National Stadium. Sponsors Hero Honda has made it almost a social cause, appealing to the public to “phir dil do hockey ko (once again give hearts to hockey)”.
The public responded to boost morale although few expect the team to progress beyond the league stage. TV viewerships for the matches have been record. The otherwise empty stands fill as Team India takes the field. The national anthem played before each game has thousands singing along raising the roof, as it were.
The crowd roars with anticipation at every foray into opponent territory, sometimes drowning out the umpiring whistles. Cheered on by the very vocal majority of spectators, Team India opened their World Cup 2010 campaign on home soil, with a stunning 4-1 win over archrivals Pakistan.
Two months ago, Pakistan had won 6-3 against the same side. The Indian players attributed their performance to public support. Veteran Pakistani player Rehan Butt felt the crowd’s vociferous rooting put his team under pressure. A commentator joked that a national holiday was declared to celebrate the victory!
Actually the ‘holiday’ was on account of Holi (the festival of colours), but the comment speaks volumes of the unexpectedness of the Indian win. Not a fairytale win for Indian hockey, it refers to the depth of its downfall. Although the national sport, it can hardly consolidate its place in the world group. At the last World Cup 2006, India finished near last.In the history of the game, however, the Indian chapter has been illustrious:
Making its Olympic debut at the 1928 Amsterdam Games, Indian hockey team cruised home to its first Olympic gold, without conceding a single goal. The hallmark of this ruthless domination was the wizardry of Indian hockey legend - Dhyan Chand, who mesmerized the Amsterdam crowd with his dazzling skills. From 1928 to 1956, the Indian hockey juggernaut won six straight Olympic gold medals, while winning 24 consecutive matches. During this time, India scored 178 goals conceding only 7 in the process.
The unbeaten run was terminated in 1960 by Pakistan. Thereafter India has struggled, winning gold only twice in the next four decades, and failing to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics - for the first time in 80 years.
After the inaugural win against Pakistan this time, player of the match, Sandeep Singh said that their ultimate goal is to restore Indian field hockey to its former glory. The team has since tasted consecutive defeats to Australia, to Spain, to England…
Shock and silence descends around the stadium whenever the opponents score. Perceiving the writing on the wall, many spectators file out of the stadium early.
The players say the public support infuses energy into their play. While that may be true, those cognizant of the history, find it difficult to further witness the humiliation of India’s former pride.
Pulling India’s national game out of the doldrums is no easy task. It will take Herculean effort just to improve the present rankings. It is important for the players to pick themselves up after each setback, and learn from mistakes made in the heat of the moment.
They need to prove to themselves first that, dreams aside, they have the heart and the head to excel in future encounters. In the process, if they can re-kindle public interest in Indian hockey, their ultimate goal of restoring glory to the game will have reached a milestone.
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